Green Room

Three Cheers for Palin’s Latest “Blunder”!

This last June 2nd, Barack H. Obama decided he felt so comfortable and compatible with “Republican” Rep. John McHugh (RINO-NY, 40%) that he named him Secretary of the Army. This leaves New York’s 23rd congressional district with an open seat; a special election is scheduled there for November 3rd, I believe, the same day the Republicans are set to win the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races.

In this hotly contested election, we have already noted that instead of a single Republican nominee, there is a very liberal Republican, Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, and a much more traditional conservative accountant running on the Conservative Party line, Doug Hoffman. (Scozzafava is the woman for whom Charles “the Sauerkraut” Krauthammer coined the acronym DIABLO — Democrat in all but label only. Actually I don’t know for sure Krauthammer personally made that up, but he is the one I heard say it.)

To her everlasting credit, Sarah Palin has become, I believe, the first major Republican Party heavy-hitter to come out swinging on behalf of Hoffman, the conservative, in despite of the New York GOP establishment’s favorite-daughter selection of Scozzafava. Palin made her endorsement via her Facebook page (I hope that link works; it might require the reader have a Facebook account):

Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a “time for choosing.”

The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas.

And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.

(As this is a political endorsement, and she clearly wants as widespread a distribution as she can get, I will cross my fingers and put her entire Facebook entry at the very end of this post. If she or someone else with authority objects, I will remove it; but I think this does not violate any copyrights.)

In response to Palin’s endorsement (and the $116,000+ in cash it helped raise for Mr. Hoffman), a peevish blogger at the Washington Post, Stephen Stromberg, has declared it “Sarah Palin’s latest blunder.” He “reasons” that she will only alienate the GOP establishment and disrupt their vital mission of moving the Republican Party further to the left, so that they can finally win… not that such a pyrrhic victory would matter:

If Hoffman — somehow — wins with her help, she will have alienated a GOP establishment desperate to reconstruct past majority coalitions that included moderates, both because she will have hurt their cause and because they will fear her influence among true believers. In return, she might continue to appeal to some far-right primary voters in 2012, but that only gets you so far (a possible victory in Iowa, owing to the heavy social conservative vote in the caucuses there, and perhaps respectable showings in the South). In other words, in this best-case scenario, she will have begun to lay the groundwork to be the Mike Huckabee of 2012. Except in 2012, she will probably be running against, well, Mike Huckabee….

More than anything, though, Palin’s endorsement probably makes an Owens victory more likely. That would not just be a humiliation for Palin. It would be a notable loss for her party as it is trying to shake off years of electoral debacle.

Heh. I always love it when liberal Democrats give Republicans and conservatives helpful advice on getting our mojo back. (For further amusement, the blog Stromboli, or whatever his name is, writes for is titled “PostPartisan“!)

I suspect that if Palin draws the ire of liberals by endorsing Hoffman, she’s on the right track. In any event, she is already alienated from the moderate-liberal, neocon, GOP-establishment leadership. But this was also true of Ronald Reagan (cf. Don Regan, George Schultz, et al): The Realists (the establishmentarians of the 1980s) hated Reagan, and some made it clear that they would rather see Carter or Mondale win than Reagan.

But at least Palin is holding the line on at least some traditional Republican principles, something beyond political calculation and Realpolitik; from her Facebook post:

Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of “blurring the lines” between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party’s ticket.

I think this is something we need, and I highly doubt that such a stance will hurt her political future in the party; most rank and file Republicans appear to believe we need much more principle and a lot less accomodation of the hard Left, whether Democratic radicals or Republican establishmentarians.

Here is Sarah Palin’s entire endorsement of Doug Hoffman from her Facebook page (open Facebook, search in the upper-right for Sarah Palin, click her name, then click the “Notes” tab):

The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now.

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it’s important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a “time for choosing.”

The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas.

And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.

Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of “blurring the lines” between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party’s ticket.

Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual.

Blowback

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One of the more interesting points from this whole situation is that Dierdre “Dede” Scozzafava could easily say, “Doug Hoffman shares many of my values, and seems to have the wind at his back — I withdraw and urge my supporters to press forward with Doug Hoffman.” Alternatively, she could say, “Doug Hoffman’s views are completely opposite my own, and I will continue to press my case with citizens to ensure that he is not elected.” Either one would leave her injured, but credible for future election cycles.

Instead, she is doing neither — saying, in effect, “I have been anointed by the GOP, so it’s mine.”

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Americans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.

FIFHer — Really these are only platform planks that are essential for any candidate to have to get my support. The rest is fluff. I will support a dem if that is his/her platform and the opposing candidate(s) think that one or more of the above are ‘optional.’

In any event, she is already alienated from the moderate-liberal, neocon, GOP-establishment leadership. But this was also true of Ronald Reagan (cf. Don Regan, George Schultz, et al): The Realists (the establishmentarians of the 1980s) hated Reagan, and some made it clear that they would rather see Carter or Mondale win than Reagan.

A few neocons (ahem, Scummy Frummy) have turned tail and hate her guts but most don’t. For that matter, Reagan can be seen as a neocon(The Democrats left him, peace through strength, etc.) I’m a mixure of libertarian, neocon and social con, but please don’t insult us neocons as the enemies of the movement.

Apparently Gov Palin is one of the few GOP politicians would won’t throw away her principles in the quest to get elected. It isn’t like she has been getting much support from the GOP establishment anyway.

It’s one thing to try and increase the size of the GOP tent and a totally different one to become an annex of the Democratic one.

Thank God we have SOMEONE in the party willing to stand up and say ENOUGH! We need more.

Newt, you’d best wake up and smell the coffee. And for God’s sake, don’t run in 2012. You’ve fallen for the RINO for the last time. We do not need another moderate lovin’ appeaser confusing capitulation for moderation.

This country needs a strong conservative leader willing to stand up to the old guard and tell it like it is. I think the absolute hatred of Sarah Palin by the left and some in the GOP is proof that she’s on the right track. They wouldn’t hate her so much if she was wrong.

I’ve determined, through observation and research, that when folks who supported McCain as the “only possible chance” for us to win in 2008 decide to support someone with the same excuse, chances are great that this person is NOT the candidate of conservatives.

We have got to shove these guys into retirement and get this party back. And we need to do it now.

“G.O.P, G.O.P, G.O.P”,!
Do you all hear these shouts? Not!
I hear, “U.S.A, U.S.A, U.S.A”
If that does not resonate within you,
you are way much more stupid than I thought.
Or, just numb. Either way, move over and GTF outta the way.